As a result, Rice will be visible at churches as well as mass transit stops in Queens, Brooklyn and western Long Island for the next few days.

Meanwhile, one of her four opponents, Richard Brodsky, plans to visit Brighton Beach in Brooklyn on Sunday, where there's a large population of Russian Jewish emigres.

He'll likely appear with Gregory Davidzon, a supporter who runs a popular Russian radio station in the borough.

Like Rice, Brodsky hails from the suburbs but part of this weekend will be spent in New York City where 53 percent of the state's enrolled Democrats reside.

"You have five candidates that are relatively unknown, with what everyone is saying is possibly going to be a record-low turnout. It's a matter of finding the votes where you can," Brodsky spokesman Jon Lipshutz said.

The need to mine every available vote is crucial in the apparently wide-open, five-way, free-for-all that is the Democratic attorney general primary.

In addition to Rice, the Nassau County district attorney, and Assemblyman Brodsky, trial lawyer Sean Coffey, state Sen. Eric Schneiderman, and former Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo are competing for the Democratic nomination for the job now held by gubernatorial front-runner Andrew Cuomo.

The winner of the Democratic attorney general primary will square off in November against Republican Dan Donovan, who is the Staten Island district attorney.

Polls suggest Rice, who has name recognition on Long Island, and Schneiderman, with heavy labor support, have an edge. All the candidates, however, are working to maximize votes in what's expected to be a low-turnout primary.

Primary races typically draw far fewer voters than the November general election and this year is seen as no exception. One reason: Cuomo locked up the gubernatorial candidacy in June. It's invariably the top-line race, such as for governor, that brings out the most people.

Further scrambling the attorney general primary is Cuomo's decision on Friday not to endorse any of the five candidates.

That might blunt some of Rice's momentum since numerous reports had earlier suggested Cuomo was leaning toward her.

And it could boost Schneiderman, who has pursued a strategy of rolling up as much union support as possible, especially in New York City.

In a low-turnout contest, the unions' get-out-the-vote capabilities, such as phone banks and van pools used to drive voters to the polls, can make a key difference.

Until now, the five candidates have been relatively unknown, polls show.

Nor has any single candidate made much impression on voters. A Quinnipiac University poll earlier this summer indicated 81 percent of Democrats are undecided on the attorney general's race.

Certainly, history suggests a low turnout.

Coffey strategist Bruce Gyory noted that between 525,000 and 700,000 of the state's 5.7 million enrolled Democrats have voted in recent primaries.

Coffey, he said, has put a lot of emphasis on upstate, where Democratic voters typically provide 30 percent of the primary turnout, compared to 55 percent in New York City and 15 percent in the city's suburbs.

"Our goal is to run up the score upstate as much as we can," said Gyory, adding Coffey has spoken frequently about the need to control rising property taxes: one of the most prominent issues facing upstate and suburban voters.

With Brodsky siphoning off some labor support from Schneiderman, those two candidates could essentially fight for a draw in New York City, which Gyory believes could put Coffey over the top with his upstate support.

Not that Coffey is putting all of his eggs in the upstate basket.

Like all the candidates, Saturday's campaigning will be subdued with visits to 9/11 memorial observances.

Then on Sunday, Coffey plans to visit African-American churches in Westchester County and Harlem, hoping to reap some votes there. All five candidates are white and it remained unclear if any of them have an edge among minority voters.

The personal visits, like Rice's stumping in New York City's outer boroughs, is yet another example of the importance of face time by candidates in this heavily contested race.

"With the saturation of the airwaves by all five candidates the name recognition becomes less of an advantage on Election Day," Phillips said.